Friday, November 30, 2007

What is Advaita Vedanta? by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

In the East, non-dual teachings are referenced by the term Advaita Vedanta. In Sanskrit, "Advaita" means "not two" and "Vedanta" means "the end of knowledge." Non-dualism is beyond knowledge.

However, in non-duality, there is no experiencer and no experience. There is no perceiver or perception. The points of reference of the experiencer, the perceiver, as well as the witness, are limited and therefore, all objects of perception can only exist in limitedness.

Self-realization is the discovery of oneself as the infinite Peace, the eternal formless, the indescribable Love, the unfathomable Sacred that is transcendent of conditioned thought. It is transcendent of you, as you think that you are, as well as transcendent of the world and all objects. It is the Mystery beyond the mind. With integration and the full embodiment of enlightenment, all form is recognized as none other than the Real and is cleary the manifestation of the formless as Itself. There is no self-referencing whatsoever and no abidance anywhere.

Who you are is beyond the mind and cannot be intellectually understood. When the illusory veil of the ego is lifted, the perception of duality culminates, which removes the illusion of separation and the illusion of all opposites. The concept of individuality is released into the Ocean of Love. Like water pouring into water, without the possibility of return, it then manifests as waterfall, river, or ocean.

Sacred Love is the topic of enlightenment. Although we speak about it and use words to point to it, the Love remains untouched. Presence shines to Itself, by Itself and in Itself. The unconscious mind is freed and it realizes the incredible beauty of it's true nature, which is the eternal Silence. Then, in service, becomes the hand-maiden to Truth.

Consciousness recognizes Itself by being fiercely now, by intense investigation and, once the mind is tranquil, by making no effort. At this point, effort is seen to be a future endeavor and a moving away from the Truth of Being. Until that time, it is essential to observe the functioning of the unconscious mind and recognize that you are the spaciousness in which all comes and goes. You remain still, immovable, being vigilant, being Heart. It is the realization that Love is all there is, Love is all there ever was and that you are this Loving now and naturally free. The illusory pain and suffering were caused by the shadow cast by the unconscious mind and the uninvestigated assumption of "me."

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Resistance and Surrender by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Resistance seems unique to the human being. Nature provides many examples of yielding to life, rather than resisting. In a tropical storm, palm trees yield to the wind and then regain their graceful sway after the storm passes. A river yields to its gravitational force as it effortlessly descends the mountain to disperse into the Ocean. Winter yields to spring, just as the ocean yields to the tides. Eagles soar in the air and yield to the wind's change of direction. Daytime gracefully surrenders to the intimacy of the night. Thought free, nature meets life as it is and never slips into time. When we no longer oppose the flow of life, we feel the impact of relinquishing resistance. The feeling impact is an opening into the expansiveness of peace. We free Wisdom's work to run through us. This Current will carry us to the Joy of the Ocean, if we would just let go and surrender.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Saturday, November 24, 2007

Let It Be - Unconditional Surrender by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Unequivocal surrender is a surface letting go of a life situation that previously would have annoyed us or hurt us. We begin standing free of our judgment, manipulation of others and control of life circumstances. In this, we remain emotionally balanced, free, and at peace.

Unequivocal surrender is a willingness to allow this precise moment, right now, to be exactly as it is. How could it be otherwise? Sensibly, we unconditionally accept the "nowness" of life ... since it is ... it already is. In the past, we fought with the moment and tried to change it, but no one can change the present moment that already is. This just makes sense, does it not?

Through this tolerance the ego begins losing its pseudo power and reactionary nature. The mind-made self begins losing its grip both on you and on others. We begin resting in the simplicity of timeless presence and find that we begin welcoming life circumstances no matter how they appear.

We rest in silent being with some strange knowing that the Heart is consuming "us." Let wisdom do its work and remain still. That is your only responsibility. Stop and be consciously aware of the open window within you through which unconditional love flows. Be quiet, be still, and that is all.

As the simplicity of being deepens, transcendental surrender draws near and matures into the wisdom of Self-realization. Just as the sun does not know darkness, Self does not know not-Self. Darkness cannot prevail in the light of consciousness. The radiant mind then mirrors the innocence and purity of our true nature. We call that world transformation. Let it be ... just let it all be.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Friday, November 23, 2007

True Forgiveness by Katie Davis - Katie Davis Blog - Awake by Katie Davis

Love does not exist within the mind and its time. Trying to heal the past is a past fixation, so we are not present for the unconditional Love that we are. The mind-made self, the ego, has a lifetime of past experience. Those that are most troublesome seem to be the ones that we meet within our intimate relationships. All of the ego's rules, expectations, intentions, and lack of trust are based on past experience. The ego acquires knowledge from the past and applies the known to present experience.

With each encounter, when others fall short of expectations, it suffers and then closes down even more. After enough negative experiences, the ego may even generalize its experience with a few individuals to an entire class, such as "men." Now, it not only has a few individual enemies in the life experience, it also has an entire imaginary army, somewhere in the future that certainly will create more of the same.

While fixated on the ego and its time, we seem to recreate the very thing that we want to escape. The ego projects into the future, its experience of the past, as present moment experience. Playing by the ego's rules of the game involves a never-ending loss of innocence. Of course, Innocence can never really be touched, since it is absolutely indestructible and perfectly within you right now. We just are not yet conscious of this Field, since the ego is mentally involved in the every day push and pull of the mind and its conditions for living each moment.

True forgiveness has nothing to do with any other. One could say that you are the forgiveness for which the ego strives. When you of free of time, that is, free of the past, free of "me" and therefore free of some "other," truthfully when is forgiveness required? We are simply free in our refuge of timelessness.

Other than perceived events that appear solely as mental images in the head on a chronological dateline, are you free right now? Are you truly available to offer True Compassion for all that appears, regardless of the face that it seems to be wearing? Do we live in constant forgiveness for all that appears? Do people truly accept this moment just as it is?

Let your heart crack open, face fear, and see if it is as the mind thinks.

Katie Davis Blog - Awake by Katie Davis
http://www.awakebykatie.blogspot.com

Katie Davis Website www.katiedavis.org

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Seeds of Compassion with the Dalai Lama - Recommended by Katie Davis

This morning, I would like to draw your attention to an extraordinary program that is based in Washington State. In April, they are gathering 15,000 school children, educators statewide, parents, caregivers, and civic leaders at Qwest Field with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. This program with be broadcast on the internet in 24 languages worldwide.

A second Children's Day at Seattle Center's Key Arena will gather thousands of children to dialogue on kindness, empathy, and compassion.

Another day follows, Science Day, when the Dalai Lama and leading researchers will be presenting the proven brain science showing that nurturing kindness and compassion throughout childhood can have a profound and positive impact on the lives of our children, families, schools, communities, and society at large and how it can be incorporated every day of our lives in simple ways.

Seeds of Compassion is based on an award winning, evidence based classroom program named Roots of Empathy that was launched in Canada in 1996 by Mary Gordon that scientically proved the dramatic impact that compassion has on reducing violence and agression while developing social/emotional competence. Roots of Empathy was launced this fall in 10 classrooms grades 1-6 in the Seattle and Kent School Districts, the first in the United States to offer the program.
True and lasting fulfillment is the only answer and it seems Seeds of Compassion is pointing the way.
In my book, Awake Joy, I offer two chapters on the conditioned child and conscious parenting and also point to compassion, gratitude, selfless service, and unconditional love as a powerful practice to turn the mind's life around to the open way of the Heart. A practice that can be offered through simple gestures every day.
I am thrilled to discover this program and the potential that it might have to surrender suffering for ourselves, our families, our schools, the workplace, the world's religions and even the living earth, its creatures and environment.
Please forward this message to anyone who may be interested and go to their website. I notice that are many ways to volunteer for this four day event. I stumbled upon the website by accident today on the internet. As a former secondary school educator, mother of four grown children and two grandchildren who will be soon entering the public school system, I am so grateful to hear of this program.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Thanks-Giving by Katie Davis

Tomorrow in the United States, it is Thanksgiving Day. To all our Friends of the Heart, no matter where you live ... I am simply grateful ... so much gratitude!

All Love ~ Katie

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Awakening and Joy of Being by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

For spiritual awakening, I am suggesting that you leave your life story alone for awhile and focus your attention on the storyteller. Meanwhile, I will offer pointers toward the permanent surrender of this perceived individual identity, who is inseparable from who you are, but not who you are. In this manner, you have the opportunity to realize unfathomable fulfillment in the Truth of Being.

When you are identified with the story, you believe that outside circumstances cause your emotions to change. For example, someone does something that you either love or hate, so you feel either happy or angry. This translates that if you are happy, someone can also take it away or if you are angry, someone else should fix it. By surrendering your true power in this manner, you helplessly ride the waves of emotion as they endlessly rise and fall. You remain subject to the merciless push and pull of the emotional aspect of the mind.

At first glance, you begin realizing that your conditioned attitudes about past situations are conditionally linked to certain present emotions through your thinking. Based on past experience, this conditioned linkage is the actual cause of your emotional storms. This is self-inflicted suffering. You cannot learn the joy of being, but you can become aware of how you deny this Truth through self-observation. You can even become aware of the instant that you choose to do so. Meanwhile, deep within, constant joy is without cause or condition. My invitation is to look deeper than the storyteller and its storyline for joy’s discovery ... the pure joy of being.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

JOY Right NOW Event in Dallas - Advaita Satsang and Satsang Intensives with Katie Davis, Sundance Burke

You are invited to "JOY Right NOW" with Katie Davis and Sundance Burke in Dallas, Texas by sponsor Jordan Shafer of CompassionWorks. The events are during the MLK Holiday Weekend and at Katie Davis Satsang Schedule Registration, lodging information is available for your convenience.

Advaita Satsang in Plano is on Thursday evening, January 17, "JOY Right NOW" begins Friday evening, January 18 at the Spiritual Fitness Center in Richardson in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area.

A Saturday, January 19 Dallas Satsang Intensive with Katie Davis and Sundance Burke follows with another intensive on Sunday, January 20.

You may register for individual events or a two or three day pass.

In addition, individual sessions will be available with either Sundance or Katie on Monday, January 21 in Plano.

To register for this event, please go to Katie Davis Schedule. More information is available at Schedule or at CompassionWorks. If you would like more information about individual sessions or if you would like to schedule an appointment, please contact Jordan at jshafer@CompassionWorks.com.

Jordon Shafer offers EMDR, Non-dual wisdom, and body spin/body alignment as well as Presence Group CompassionWorks and satsang at Yoga Balance Studio in McKinney, Texas.

We are indeed grateful to the Dallas community as well as Jordan and Kay Shafer who have been committed to this beautiful weekend.

To enjoy articles that have been published locally, please visit Dallas Holistic Networker magazine.

We invite you to Dallas Satsang.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Awake by Katie Davis Blog: Emotional Storms by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

When you are identified with the story, you believe that outside circumstances cause your emotions to change. For example, someone does something that you either love or hate, so you feel either happy or angry. This translates that if you are happy, someone can also take it away or if you are angry, someone else should fix it. By surrendering your true power in this manner, you helplessly ride the waves of emotion as they endlessly rise and fall. You remain subject to the merciless push and pull of the emotional aspect of the mind.

At first glance, you begin realizing that your conditioned attitudes about past situations are conditionally linked to certain present emotions through your thinking. Based on past experience, this conditioned linkage is the actual cause of your emotional storms. This is self-inflicted suffering. You cannot learn the joy of being, but you can become aware of how you deny this Truth through self-observation. You can even become aware of the instant that you choose to do so. Meanwhile, deep within, constant joy is without cause or condition. My invitation is to look deeper than the storyteller and its storyline for joy’s discovery.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Awake Joy is the Radiance by Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

Awake Joy is the radiance that strings life's happy and unhappy moments together like the pearls of a necklace. In its discovery, the pearls dissolve into the freedom of conscious joy. This joy cannot be given to you, nor can it be taken away. If you are searching for joy, you are already here as the final answering. You are what you are seeking and in seeking it, you cannot realize who you really are. You essential Essence is steadfast, uncaused joy. It is constantly be experienced, although most are not yet consciously aware of it.

My book, Awake Joy, is not a therapeutic guide about how to change your life story. Rather, it is a pragmatic pointer toward the mature surrender of "me and my story." Through this transcendence, ever-present joy effortlessly emerges.

Of course, the conditioned mind does love repetition, so it is persistent. If you have ever read books to small children, you might have noticed that they love reading the same stories over and over. They thrive on the security of what is already known. This is not unlike adult storylines, as we anticipate more of the same. The ego loves the known, since it is based upon it.

For true discovery, I am suggesting that you simply leave the story alone for awhile and focus your attention on the storyteller. Meanwhile, I will offer pointers toward the permanent surrender of the mind-made, time based self. In this manner, you have the opportunity to realize unfathomable fulfillment in the Truth of Being.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Saturday, November 17, 2007

The Kena Upanishad - Katie Davis Blog - Awake by Katie Davis

This is so beautiful and I'd like to share it with you. It is from the Kena Upanishad (The Talavakara Upanishad). Normally, these teachings are free of eastern jargon, but this scripture I love and it is so clear.

Just relax a moment and rest. Sit back away from the computer screen. Are you aware of your breathing? Can feel how delicate the air feels as it moves in and out your nose? Now relax just a little bit more...just being. The eyes read just fine without the mental consternation. As the eyes move, notice that the one who is aware is absolutely still.

The Kena Upanishad

“Not that which speech illumines, but That whereby speech can illumine, know this alone to be Brahman, the Eternal, and not what people here adore.

“Not that which the mind thinks, but That by whereby the mind can think, know this alone to be Brahman, the Eternal, and not what people here adore.

Not that which the eye sees, but That whereby the eye can see, know this alone to be Brahman, the Eternal, and not what people here adore.

Not that which the ear hears, but That whereby the ear can hear, know this alone to be Brahman, the Eternal, and not what people here adore.

Not that which is indrawn by breath, but That whereby breath is indrawn, know this alone to be Brahman, the Eternal, and not what people here adore.”

I am grateful that you are here today ... Katie

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Friday, November 16, 2007

Katie Davis Satsang Schedule - Sundance Burke Satsang Schedule

Thank you for your visit to the Katie Davis Blog today.

Although Texas may not be near, check out the Katie Davis Satsang Schedule at www.katiedavis.org/schedule.html.

Our 2008 Advaita Satsangs are listed there and besides Dallas Satsang in Texas, it includes Sedona Satsang and Satsang Intensive, Flagstaff Satsang and Satsang Intensive, Boulder Satsang and Satsang Intensive, Richmond Hill Ontario Satsang and Intensive, Toronto Ontario Satsang and Intensive, Chicago, Seattle Pacific Northwest Satsang and Maui Satsang and Satsang Intensives with more events soon.

If you ever come to satsang, please be sure to introduce yourself.

Blessings ~ Katie

Katie Davis Satsang Schedule: www.katiedavis.org

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Satsang in Plano, Texas - Katie Davis, Sundance Burke - Advaita Satsang

You are invited to satsang with Katie Davis, author of "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment" and her husband, Sundance Burke, author of "Free Spirit: A Guide to Enlightened Being" in Plano, Texas on Thursday, January 17 at 7:30 pm.

The evening is the beginning of a 5 day event over the MLK Holiday weekend that is sponsored by Jordan Shafer of CompassionWorks.

You may register for a single event, intensives, a two or three day pass at the Katie Davis Satsang Schedule www.katiedavis.org/schedule.html.

Individual appointments (Private Satsang) with either Katie Davis or Sundance Burke are being scheduled by Jordan at jshafer@compassionWorks.com.

Advaita Satsang is an opportunity to rest as the stillness of who you really are. It is a meditative evening with a talk on awakening, enlightenment and living in the now; questions or sharing.

Register for satsang or the entire "JOY Right NOW" weekend at Katie Davis Satsang Schedule.

Lodging information is available at registration.

For satsang, please arrive 15 minutes early and enter in silence at 1709 Savage Drive (near Custer and Legacy).

The other events will be at The Spiritual Fitness Center in Richardson in the Dallas/Ft Worth area.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Seeking Something - Void of the Unknown - Katie Davis, Author, Awake Joy

To the majority of the world’s population, only the consciously perceivable is classified as “real,” while the unperceivable is classified as “unreal.”

This viewpoint relegates everything that is unconscious, uninvestigated and unrealized as “unreal.”

We are dismissing the unmanifest potential of existent emptiness, since it is presently unperceived. In certain respects, the advancements in today’s scientific and technological communities are changing this limited viewpoint. For instance, scientists have discovered that within the atom, there is far more space than matter. Simplistically, I suppose that the amount of matter might be considered to be the equivalent to nothing more than a grain of sand within the empty space of an astrodome.

Scientists have shifted their attention from matter to investigate the unknown space. The problem seems to be that they are still looking for “something” and of course finer levels of matter are then appearing. As long as they continue to look for “something,” the true nature of nothingness remains unrealized; just as seekers of enlightenment, who remain non-finders, continue to look for “something,” instead of stopping to simply rest.

Most every night on Maui, we are blessed with beautiful starlit nights. Even the naked eye can see that there is far more space than place. Universal space is infinitely vast. We are dismissing the space in the assumption that it is nothing. The mind labels it as nothing, since there is no-thing there.

What is this “no-thingness” of the unknown? What does it reflect within you?

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Monday, November 12, 2007

Beyond Causality by Katie Davis

Beyond Causality
By awakening to the delusion of time, you have the opportunity to recognize that who you really are is beyond causality. Within time, you are subject to this law of cause and effect. Every action that you take creates causation and you then receive its effect. Whether effect creates causation and therefore cause, or whether cause creates causation and therefore effect, is inconsequential, other than for the pursuit of the time-based mind. From that viewpoint, one could say that everything that happens is the cause of everything that happens. Causality is an endless cycle of “past-present” moments, which cause their effect within “past-future” time. Chronologically, the effects do not necessarily appear in a linear manner. Within time, this chained cycle is endless. Causality seems to exist due to the delusion of time. Causality is the result of the desires and fears of the illusive, time-based ego. Cause and effect are part and parcel of the imagined “me” and contained in the false impression of timely separation.

To the majority of the world’s population, only the consciously perceivable is classified as “real,” while the unperceivable is identified as “unreal.” This viewpoint relegates everything that is unconscious, uninvestigated and unrealized as “unreal.” We are dismissing the unmanifest potential of existent emptiness, since it is presently unperceived. In certain respects, the advancements in today’s scientific and technological communities are changing this limited viewpoint. For instance, scientists have discovered that within the atom, there is far more space than matter. Simplistically, I suppose that the amount of matter might be considered to be equivalent to nothing more than a grain of sand within the empty space of an astrodome. Scientists have shifted their attention from matter, to investigate the unknown space. The problem seems to be that they are still looking for “something” within the space and of course finer levels of matter are then appearing. As long as they continue to look for “something,” the true nature of “no-thingness” remains unrealized. Just as seekers of enlightenment, who remain “non-finders,” continue to look for “something,” instead of stopping to rest as stillness. On a beautiful starlit night, even the naked eye can see that there is really more space than place. Universal space is infinitely vast. We are dismissing the space in the assumption that it is nothing. The mind labels it nothing, since there is no-thing there. What is this no-thingness of the unknown? What does it reflect within you?

Scientists also recognize that beyond the matter-containing universe, there is an unknown void that is free of matter altogether, which is absolutely still. Of course, the scientific mind qualifies the void as darkness. Is this really true? Even while you are reading this book, while focusing on matter or content, you may be unconscious of space or silence and yet it is everywhere. We have merely been focusing on content, rather than that which surrounds it. The true answer to the nature of this unknown vastness of space, the silence of the universe and the unknown void which lies beyond cannot be discovered externally within manifestation. The answer is the potential of Self-discovery. This discovery does not require sophisticated scientific instruments to look for “something.” It requires that you stop searching and rest as stillness. Totality is infinity, space, “spacelessness,” matter, silence, frequency, vibration, time, timelessness, eternity, the void of emptiness, the void of fullness, the manifest and the unmanifest, whose womb is the absolute stillness of Pure Awareness. It is realized as Consciousness-Being-Bliss or Awake Living Joy. The discoveries within the scientific communities are significant, since it is opening more people to the potential reality of the unknown within manifestation. Their observations are truthfully reflecting the Unknown within. This book is pointing toward the Source of the infinite unmanifest within you.

All the same, it requires only a single instant outside of time to spur awakening. When this occurs, the world is virtually turned “outside in.” Within the time-based world, everything that was formerly viewed as “real” is suddenly recognized to be illusion, which of course it is. The benefit is that the dream-like nature of the world facilitates the deeper exploration of the inner world. This inner attention stimulates the realization of the Truth of Being. This Truth is then recognized as everywhere and the dual world is then realized as the non-dual Real. Beyond space, matter and time, only the Self is. Within space, matter and time, only the Self is. You are only the Self and you are beyond both duality and unity. After Self-discovery, there is nothing separate to support cause and effect. One is no longer identified or limited to the body and the individual consciousness is realized as delusion. To whom would cause or effect apply? Action and causation are delusions within your true immutability. You are the Self and you are free of action and yet originate it. You are free of the movement through space creating time, so therefore you are free of the progression of causality. Even now, Life is causeless and you are complete. You have only to realize it. However, as a time traveler, who is still identified with the ego as the doer, you are subject to the law of cause and effect.     

The Prophecy of the End of Time
A prophecy is something that we predict will happen in the future, such as the end of time prophecy in the Book of Revelations in the Bible. It is impossible for the end of time to happen within time. The end of time cannot be in the future. The end of time can only be right now. One wonders whether this biblical prophecy was misinterpreted, within the realm of the time-based, unawake mind. Perhaps the end of time is simply the end of the delusion of time. This makes sense, does it not? Perhaps, the end of the world is really the end of the dream world. Maybe, it is the end of attachment to the time-based ego and its identification with objectivity, as well as its concept of separation.

Whatever the case, the end of time does coincide with the culmination of the ignorant mind. You no longer need the past to prove separate identity in order to realize wholeness. You no longer need suffering to consciously inquire to discover Truth. You no longer need separation to recognize that you are Self-realized. You no longer need duality for experience. You no longer need the future to provide fulfillment. Instead, you have the opportunity for the “mind-shattering” shift, from the movement of mind within time, to the absolute stillness of the Truth of Being. The Truth offers wholeness instead of separation, Joy instead of suffering, non-duality instead of duality and total fulfillment right now. 

Every master of enlightenment throughout history has pointed to the simple Truth of Now. Present day spiritual teacher, Eckhart Tolle, is author of the international bestseller The Power of Now. The book is written eloquently and pragmatically. As the “mainstream” loved and accepted this book worldwide, I could only sense the dramatic impact. In The Power of Now, Beloved Eckhart writes:

“Have you ever experienced, done, thought, or felt anything outside of Now? Do you think that you ever will? Is it possible for anything to  happen  or  be  outside  the  Now?  The  answer  is  no,  is it not? Nothing ever happened in the past; it happened in the Now. Nothing will ever happen in the future; it will happen in the Now.”

Awake Living Joy points to the realization of the Truth of Being. The Essence of enlightenment is beyond time, which is tantamount to beyond the mind. This is not an essence that you move toward. The opportunity is here now for everyone. It is a breathtaking shift from mind to the ever-present and ever-open Heart of All Being. It is a simple, yet wondrous shift, which coincidentally is the end of time as well as the end of the world as we have known it.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

"Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment" by Katie Davis

Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment by Katie Davis is now available at the Katie Davis Website and the Awake Joy Book Website. You may enjoy the Awake Joy Summary, the Table of Contents, see what others are saying about Katie's new book in the Book Reviews and find out more about Katie Davis in the Author Biography. It will be available for purchase soon at the Awake Books link at http://www.katiedavis.org/.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Monday, November 5, 2007

Heart of Life E-book by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

"Heart of Life" e-book is now available on my website. It was just released. As a non-dual satsang teacher and author of the soon to be released hardcover book, "Awake Joy: The Essence of Enlightenment," I wanted to let you know about "Heart of Life: The Katie Collection." It includes writings that have been published as stand alone articles in magazines, newspapers and websites, in addition to Friends of the Heart Newsletters, throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.

The e-book includes 20 articles entitled, "Roses for Living," "The Secret Ocean," "The Sky of Now," "Awake Right Now," "Ego's Story-Time," "The Mystical Sky," "Inner Space," "Only This Love," "Awakening to the Invincible Summer," "Ego's Postponement Strategy," "Wisdom's Work," "Call of the Wild," "Be Still," "Pure Being," "I am Meditation," "Beyond Causality," "Duality and Conceptual Reality," plus an interview as a cover story for a Northwest newspaper in the United States.

The e-book also includes a description of my new book to publish soon, "Awake Joy: the Essence of Enlightenment," how to contract me directly and guidelines for permission to distribute or publish the articles for your newsletters or websites. "Heart of Life" is available at Awake Books.

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org

Sunday, November 4, 2007

The Secret Ocean by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

In a way, life is like beachcombing, as we search for seashells to find happiness. Seeking love, we carefully gather the treasures that we cherish most and when happiness wanes, we move on to collect others. We seem to forget that their abundant source is the inner Ocean; the only spring of true happiness.

Love surrounds us and it originates from within you. We do not need to seek love for living, in the same manner that the spinner dolphin does not cry for water while swimming. The mind has its idea of perfection and what it needs to be happy. All the while, we are the very joy that we are seeking. The separate self is the time-based mind’s attempt to divide and it will prove to be futile, since separation is unattainable. Its sense of lack is its own demise. Whereas Self-realization is an ease, since it is already complete. Fulfillment means completion, not a fractional part, and love’s completion is the discovery of who you really are. After all, a drop of water does not separate to be a part of the ocean, but rather dissolves its partiality.

Desire inherently contains its opposite, which is fear. So while we are creating our personal desires, we are also creating poverty, greed, sexual obsession, power over others in the herd, and every form of lack. In other words, when we desire, we are also saying that we lack. Consequently, both seem to be created. If we are acquiring in order to be happier at a future time, ever-present joy will elude us, since it is not a future endeavor. It is here now, uncaused, and free of every-thing. The dual mind will prove to be ravenous for its desires, as it runs from its fears. Its bottom line will always be “more!” When it finally discovers that its treasures only provide a fleeting happiness, it discovers the root of its longing, which is the realization of the Heart.

Before awakening, I discovered what I thought was the mind’s ability to create in the seventies. I taught my students and later my children this miracle of creation and they attained their goals as well. Yet, the things and attainments simply came and went. In the end, something always seemed to be missing, so there was always something more to create. I did not realize that the something missing was innate in my uninvestigated assumption of being a fraction of Totality; a separate self wandering through life for meaning. Eventually, only "I" remained and its assumption of separation was its lack and longing. In the miracle of mind-creating, I thought that I was the finger pointing to the moon. In fact, I was neither finger, nor moon. In retrospect, observing was the power. It revealed thought’s mechanisms and its images for a deeper self-understanding. Ultimately, only the overwhelming fulfillment of joy sustained. The Heart is ceaselessly outpouring love. Are you looking from the Heart or from the mind?

The space around “I” is joy's way. You are welcome to continue collecting things to try to fill that space, as some sort of future compensation, but things and circumstances within time is not where joy resides. In the meantime, you needlessly suffer, while hoping for personal empowerment that at best can only be partial. Sooner or later, it will be recognized that the space around all of your accumulations is the direction and that it originates within. Essence is deeper than "you and your thoughts" and more profound than "your attention." It is the pure attention of the loving Heart; the only omnipotent power of the universe: Love. 

So now, or later, it does not really matter, as long as you do not mind suffering and world hostility. I understand that you may still choose to cruise in a yacht on the surface of the ocean and remain oblivious to the charm of an undersea world that is brilliantly colored with tropical fish. However, the silence of the ocean’s depth would be overlooked. You would not become acquainted with the beauty of the coral reefs and the underwater song of the humpback whales, whining in the distance. You also have the option of diving in to explore the unfathomable depth of the inner Ocean. Yachts are fun, but that fun fades and becomes no more than a past mental image. It pales in the joy of your ineffable beauty.

Wisdom's invitation is to dissolve like a sugar cube in a hot cup of tea. You may fear that "sugar" will no longer exist. Nonetheless, take your first sip, and see that sweetness remains. If you have realized that now is the only possible time in the universe, then as Rumi so poetically wrote, "Don't wait any longer. Dive in the Ocean. Leave and let the sea be you." The Ocean is the calling and it is your passionate magnificence!

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Joy's Way by Katie Davis, Author, "Awake Joy"

Have you noticed the space around "I"? That space is joy's way. You are welcome to continue creating things to try to fill that space, as some sort of future compensation, but things and circumstances within time is not where joy resides. In the meantime, you needlessly suffer, while hoping for personal empowerment that at best can only be partial. Sooner or later, it will be recognized that the space around all of your accumulations is the direction and it originates inside you. Essence is deeper than "you and your thoughts" and more profound than "your attention." It is the pure attention of the loving Heart; the only omnipotent power of the universe; LOVE.

So now, or later, it doesn't really matter, as long as you don't mind suffering and world hostility. I understand that you may still choose to cruise in a yacht on the surface of the ocean and remain oblivious to the charm of the undersea world that is brilliantly colored with tropical fish. However, you will not become acquainted with the beauty of the coral reefs and the underwater song of the humpback whales whining in the distance. You also have the option of diving in to explore the unfathomable depth of the inner Ocean. Yachts are fun, but that fun fades and becomes no more than a past mental image. It pales in the joy of your ineffable beauty.

Katie Davis Website www.katiedavis.org

Thursday, November 1, 2007

Spontaneous Awakening by Katie Davis

Now over 20 years ago, I spontaneously awakened, without previous knowledge of enlightenment or spiritual practices for Self-realization. Suddenly, out of the blue sky, I fell awake into non-experience . . . into a non-dual reality that I had no idea that it existed.

I had no intellectual reference whatsoever. My friends were not on this path and I was not even aware of the "inner" world. One moment, I was first and foremost a devoted mother with a business, the next, I was profoundly shocked into the Truth that virtually nothing is as it seems. I shifted beyond the mind-made sense of self, its body, and its time.
Before awakening, I discovered what I thought was the mind's ability to create in the 1970's and I was successful. I trained my students this miracle of creation and they attained their goals as well. Yet, the things and attainments simply came and went. In the end, something always seemed to be missing, so there was always "something more" to create. I did not realize that the "something missing" was innate in my uninvestigated assumption of being a fraction.
In the end, only "I" remained and its assumption of separation is its lack and longing. In the miracle of mind-creating, I thought that I was the finger pointing to the moon, the creation. In fact, I was neither finger, nor moon. In retrospect, the observing itself was the tremendous power. Through observing, a stunning detachment occurred from all thought, its mechanisms, and manifestation. This included the "I" thought (the separate self) and its body assumption. Ultimately, only the overwhelming fulfillment of joy remained.
The Heart is ceaselessly outpouring love. Are you looking from the Heart or from the mind?

Katie Davis Website: www.katiedavis.org